Prologue:
Out in the bay of Jump City, USA, inside a large, T-shaped tower on a small island, a tall young woman twenty-two years of age with pale-grayish skin, violet eyes, short violet hair, and a small red gemstone embedded in her forehead was hard at work preparing a huge meal for her adoptive family.
Raven, founding member of the superhero organization the Teen Titans, now just the Titans, let out a tired sigh as she took a sip of coffee before returning to her task, giving a small smile when she breathed in deeply to take in the smell of freshly cooking pancakes and waffles, ingredients and utensils of all kinds covered in her black and purple magical aura swirling around her while she quietly worked the kitchen.
Her friends would be here soon, the empath could feel their spirits making their way to the Tower's common room, with one in particular radiating the same feelings of Tiredness and Annoyance she was currently feeling.
Hopefully a nice breakfast would fix that.
She couldn't blame him, though.
It had been quite a busy day of crime fighting in Jump City yesterday.
Someone had broken out poor Otto to use him as a distraction again, and the half-demon sorceress and her friends had spent some long hours rounding up criminals that had been forewarned of the breakout attempting to take advantage of the chaos caused by Plamus's latest rampage.
Fools.
The Titans had long since gotten used to this song-and-dance, and knew what was going on and what was about to happen the second they had gotten the alert.
You would think by now the various criminals and Villains of the city would have figured out they needed to try something more original after so many years, but Raven supposed that was giving most of them far too much credit.
Especially now.
Once upon a time, it might have required all five of the Titans to subdue Plasmus in a timely manner, but nowadays any one of them was more than capable of taking the beast down without too much trouble.
The only reason it had taken the sorceress so long to join the others after she'd restrained Otto and returned him to sleep was that she'd also had to spend precious time soothing the poor man's distraught spirit as he'd tearfully apologized for the damage Plasmus had caused and begged for her forgiveness.
Despite the fact she'd already assured him many times already he had nothing to apologize for.
Raven would need to make sure she visited Otto more often for the next few weeks to ensure his rest would be peaceful.
The poor man deserved that much at least.
After the sorceress had returned Otto to prison, and delivered some sharply pointed words to the Warden, she'd joined her friends in rounding up the remaining criminals before hunting down the true perpetrators behind the breakout using information gleaned from their victim.
The Hive Five had been attempting to use the chaos as cover to launch yet another zany scheme to put themselves back on top of Jump City's criminal element.
Ever since the only remotely competent member of the group, Jinx, had seen the light and defected to become an Honorary Titan thanks to Wally's efforts, the Hive Five had been reduced to nothing but a joke.
A pale, bitter shadow of themselves growing increasingly desperate to regain their former glory.
Pointless and pathetic.
The five buffoons hadn't even managed to get past the first phase of their "plan" before Raven and her friends had found them, and the sorceress was pretty sure that disgusting, foul-mouthed little goblin Gizmo had invented half-a-dozen new curse words when the Titans had broken down their door.
He'd shut up real quick when Raven had made her displeasure at the Hive Fives's actions known though, and by the end of it they had been ones begging for her forgiveness and swearing on their mother's graves they would never take advantage of Otto's condition ever again.
Which, she had to admit, had been quite satisfying.
Even if she'd had to deal with Garfield's incessant teasing about how much of a big softie she was afterwards.
The sorceress loved the changeling like a brother, but even now after so many years and some dearly needed maturation on Garfield's part, some things still refused to change.
The fact that Victor still couldn't help but egg his partner-in-crime on didn't help matters.
Regardless, all five of them had been exhausted after returning to the Tower so late, and had practically collapsed in their beds after enjoying a celebratory round of Pizza.
Unfortunately, none of them had the option of sleeping in.
Evil never took a holiday, after all, and their responsibilities as Jump City's protectors meant the Titans could not afford to let up on their patrols or show weakness even for an instant.
Hence why Raven was currently laboring away at the Titan's massive stove despite her own tiredness.
The sorceress didn't cook often despite how skilled she'd become at it since her disastrous first attempt all those years ago, but she knew her friends always greatly appreciated and enjoyed her meals when she did, and she'd always been an early riser, even more so than Dick.
So Raven figured she might as well go ahead and feed everyone so the other Titans could hopefully start what might be another long day off on the right foot before she, Victor, and Garfield began their shifts.
And, with any luck, keep the boys incessant whining about how their day off had been ruined yesterday to a minimum.
The door opened behind her, and a huge yawn promptly and loudly announced the arrival of the first of her friends as the sorceress sighed quietly.
Speak of the devil.
Raven turned slightly from her work to regard a tall, athletic, 20 year old man with green skin, dark green hair, and pointy ears dressed in a black and purple jumpsuit with gray gloves and boots.
Garfield Logan, Beast Boy.
The annoying, insufferable, wonderful little brother she'd never had or wanted but nonetheless cherished deeply, still clad in the colors of his old team, the Doom Patrol.
Who was currently wearing a rather grumpy expression as he dragged himself to his seat at the table, still bleary-eyed and half-asleep.
"Jeez Rae, you got up early after that trainwreck yesterday to make us breakfast? The world's not about to end again is it?" Garfield muttered moodily, face down on the table as he fought to stay awake and the sorceress snorted and raised an unimpressed eyebrow, idly biting back the urge to correct the butchering of her name given her friend's current state.
Beast Boy never was a morning person despite how energetic he normally was.
Whatever.
He'd get back to his usual, annoyingly chipper self once he got some caffeine in him.
"Good morning to you too, Garfield," Raven replied flatly as she silently floated over a thermos of her friend's favorite coffee and lowered the hood of her beloved navy blue cloak as she turned to address him, continuing to telekinetically work the kitchen while she did so. "And no, the world is not about to end again as far as I know. Just like all the other times you've asked me that question when I've cooked for everyone."
"Yeah, yeah," Beast Boy muttered irritably as he unscrewed the cap and started vigorously chugging down the coffee, sitting up straighter as the rush of caffeine entered his system. "Just thought I'd make sure. As nice as it is to know just how much you care under all that Doom and Gloom, we don't want to risk losing you again, now do we?"
Raven snorted with a well-hidden (very well-hidden) smile at the changeling's playful ribbing as she turned back to the stove.
Just as she thought.
It took Garfield no time at all to get back to his usual self.
"Don't worry, I have no intention of sacrificing myself for you ever again Garfield," she countered in an utterly deadpan voice, shooting Beast Boy the flattest, most expressionless look she could muster over her shoulder, refusing to give so much as an inch in this game they'd been playing for as long as they'd known each other while he just laughed at the barb. "I just thought I'd go ahead and feed you and everyone else so I wouldn't have to deal with your incessant whining about having to pull another late night."
"I heard that!" a loud, boisterous voice sounded out as Victor Stone, the huge metallic superhero Cyborg, agreed loudly as he walked into the room and glowered at Garfield, his single red eye glowing. "Seriously man, what's the matter with you!?! A lady gets up early to make you a beautiful breakfast after a long night's work and that's the thanks you give her!?! I oughta kick your ungrateful little ass into next week!"
With his imposing size, bulk, and heavily armored gray and blue robotic body that showed nought but the right half of his bald black head, that would ordinarily be quite an intimidating threat.
Beast Boy, however, was not fooled or impressed in the slightest as he snorted and fearlessly looked back at the massive mechanical man of 24 years.
They all knew just how much of a big teddy bear Victor was under his Frankenstein-esque appearance.
"Of course you would say that Victor," Garfield said nonchalantly as his best friend took a seat beside him and eyed the cooking food like a hungry dog, his mouth watering slightly. "Honestly, Brother Blood should have tried hacking into your stomach instead of your brain because that's clearly where you do all your thinking. Would have saved him a lot of time and money buying all your crummy hardware to build that army of knock-off yous."
Cyborg and the sorceress both snorted loudly at that.
"Please. You wouldn't know good hardware if it bit you in that nasty green ass of yours," Victor shot back with an eye roll and a dismissive wave as Raven nodded in agreement.
"Indeed," she concurred blandly without looking as she idly flipped a few more pancakes. "Wherever it is he does it, at least Victor actually thinks."
"Oh look, ganging up on poor Garfield and calling him an idiot. How original," Beast Boy drawled in an intensely bored voice as he stared at them both with half-lidded eyes. "And you guys call me a hopeless washout that needs to get some new material. Freaking hypocrites. At least I fight fair."
"Got no one to blame but yourself for that for having such poor manners Gar," Cyborg said haughtily as his best friend snorted before turning towards the sorceress. "I am deeply sorry for my friend's rudeness, Raven. Rest assured, he will be punished later."
She cracked an amused grin as she looked over her shoulder to see Victor shooting a downright evil look at a suddenly very nervous looking Garfield, who was giving her a pleading expression and desperately mouthing the words "HELP ME".
Deciding to take pity on her poor, foolish honorary brother, Raven shot him a look that very clearly said "You Owe Me" before stepping in.
"Thank you Victor, but that won't be necessary," she said smoothly as she turned back to her work while Beast Boy breathed a huge sigh of relief and Cyborg frowned in disappointment, no doubt having been planning one whopper of a prank. "I'm a big girl that's more than capable of defending my own honor if need be. Besides, I've long gotten used to Garfield's lack of tact and knew he didn't mean anything by it."
Victor grumbled for a moment before giving Garfield a sideways faux glare.
"You get to live for now, little man," he growled without much heat as Beast Boy childishly stuck his tongue out at him, before turning to the sorceress with a much more sincere expression. "In all seriousness, though, Raven, it's really nice for you to make breakfast for us after what happened yesterday. Thank you."
"Yeah, uh, thanks," Garfield echoed a bit more hesitantly as he nervously eyed a few burnt, sticky-looking pancakes roasting in the corner of the stove, clearly trying very hard not to make the same mistake they'd all made the first time Raven tried to cook for her friends.
"Those are for Starfire," the sorceress clarified without missing a beat as she violently wrenched one of the pancakes free and placed the other side on the stove with a splatter, instantly getting a pair of understanding "ahs" from both men.
They were both more than familiar with the alien woman's strange eating habits at this point, after all.
"What is that wonderful aroma!?!"
Once again, speak of the devil.
The three Titans all turned to see a tall, orange-skinned, green eyed angel float into the room, her long red hair flowing gently behind her as she eagerly sniffed the air.
Starfire, also known as Koriand'r, the drop-dead gorgeous 22 year old alien princess of the planet Tamaran and girlfriend of Dick Grayson, currently clad in a fashionably comfortable set of civilian clothes instead of her usual costume given it was her day off.
Hopefully she would be luckier in that regard than the boys were.
"Is that…?" she said hopefully, before she followed the scent and the tamaranean woman let out a delighted squeal as her emerald orbs found what they were looking for. "Oh it is! Pancakes made burnt on the outside and runny on the inside! Just like the incinerated Glorka Roaches of my homeworld! OH THANK YOU RAVEN!"
The sorceress sighed as Starfire swooped down and enveloped her in a massive hug, her Joy, Happiness, and Gratitude shining like the sun to Raven's empathetic senses.
Kori had always been more open and intense with her emotions than any human ever could be.
"You're welcome Starfire," Raven said as she indulgently accepted and returned the hug before eventually tapping Starfire's shoulder a few times to signal her she was squeezing the sorceress just a little too hard, before gracing the sheepish alien with a small but friendly smile. "How are you this morning?"
"Oh I am most wonderful!" Kori replied cheerfully with a radiant smile as her brilliantly shining emotions washed over her empathetic friend once again. "First I awaken to a most beautiful sunrise, and now I discover you have also endeavored to prepare me one of my favorite meals to raise my spirits after yesterday's ceaseless battles!?! What a glorious way to start the day! You are a most kind and generous soul, friend!"
The sorceress huffed, a pleased expression on her face as she shot Garfield a smug little smirk.
"Thank you Starfire. It's nice to see someone around here appreciates my efforts," she said haughtily as she got a cheeky grin in response.
"You know you love me Rae Rae!" Beast Boy declared tauntingly with an equally smug look as Raven's face tightened at her name being butchered once again.
And that is where I draw the line.
"Yes, I do. Doesn't mean you aren't an insufferable, inconsiderate pinhead though," she shot back coolly as she gathered up everyone's meals and set them in front of her friend's, causing their eyes to light up and their mouths to water. "And it's Raven."
"Ah come on now 'Rae Rae', don't be like that!" Victor said cheerfully, easily ignoring the massive stink eye and warning growl she sent his way as he eagerly rubbed his hands together and eyed the enormous plate of food in front of him with a ravenous expression. "We're all family here with our own little quirks and nicknames for each other! What, you're closest friends in the world don't get any special privileges?"
"No," the sorceress answered in a spectacularly blunt voice as she abruptly jerked Cyborg's plate out of his reach with her magic just as he was about to dig in, a devilish smirk on her face. "As my friends, I expect all of you to have enough respect for me to use my proper name. So if either of you call me 'Rae Rae' again, you won't be getting anything."
Victor let out an affronted gasp and put his hand to his huge metal chest in mock horror as Garfield snickered and Starfire giggled cutely.
"Enticing a man with a delicious meal only to hold it for ransom!?!" he exclaimed indignantly as if it was the worst crime he'd ever heard of before giving Raven a smoldering faux glare. "You truly are a heartless, evil witch just like the Youth Guard and those weird street preachers say!"
"And don't you forget it," she said smugly before deciding her point had been made and returning the plate to her huge teammate as he let out a whoop of joy and attacked the food with gusto while the sorceress sighed and shook her head in fond exasperation.
Even after all these years, Raven still didn't have the foggiest clue how Victor was able to put away so much food, being mostly metal and all, but boy could he put it away.
The sorceress had had to dedicate fully half of their considerably sized stove solely to feed the massive mechanical man's monstrous appetite.
Though, the appreciative noises he was making and the thumbs up he was giving her made all that work worth it as Raven allowed herself a proud little smile at how far she'd come from her disastrous first attempt.
"Speaking of inconsiderate," Garfield piped up suddenly as he gave a curious look at the only empty seat at the table. "Anybody know where Dick…?"
"I'm here, Garfield."
The changeling immediately cut himself off and let out an exasperated sigh as the Titans all turned to look at their leader stroll into the room, fully armed and equipped for war, which explained why he had been last to arrive.
Dick was a tall, muscular man 23 years of age with long, sleek black hair wearing an intimidating black jumpsuit with a dark blue symbol of a hawk, steel bracelets, steel-toed boots, and his signature utility belt and V-shaped domino mask.
While Nightwing's costume might have appeared to be simple cloth at first glance, the other Titans knew it was actually a highly advanced body armor, the best Waynetech had to offer, made of ultra-lightweight, high-density polymerized Titanium, underneath which the former Robin wore a strength-enhancing exoskeleton that gave him the physical boost he needed to keep up with his superpowered friends.
All in all, it was quite an impressive piece of work that had left many a criminal soiling themselves in fear.
There was just one problem.
Dick was not supposed to be wearing it right now.
"Sorry I'm late guys. Oh, that smells good! Is Raven cooking again…!" he began excitedly, only to cut himself off as he took in the rather flat stares his team were giving him, particularly from the sorceress and Starfire. "Ahhh… I'm in trouble aren't I?"
Both women just let out long, long suffering sighs as Victor and Garfield both snickered.
Oh Dick…
"Good morning Dick. Your food is getting cold," Raven greeted dryly in a coolly formal tone, as she took her own seat and gestured at her leader's food while Nightwing flinched at the crystal clear signal that yes, he was in trouble. "Breakfast before business. You know Garfield and Victor work best on a full stomach. And so do you, for that matter,"
Dick winced before letting out a weary sigh and resigning himself to his fate as he slowly trudged to sit beside his stone-faced girlfriend and gave her and the sorceress a nervous smile.
"You never learn, do you dude?" Beast Boy asked with a maliciously teasing grin as he and Cyborg both cackled while Nightwing glowered at both of them murderously.
"Bite me. Both of you," he hissed in a voice of pure venom as both his teammates only snickered harder, before immediately wincing again as the two women cleared their throats expectantly.
"So, Dick, I'm rather curious. Why exactly did you bother to get all geared up when I could have sworn that today was supposed to be your day off?" Raven asked conversationally in a rather calm manner as she began gracefully eating her breakfast, before suddenly pinning her leader with a piercing Look. "Seems like a rather pointless waste of time to me."
"Indeed," Kori concurred in an equally calm voice before giving her squirming boyfriend a Look of her own. "I was quite certain you were not on today's patrol schedules when I reviewed them last night. Was there a last minute change that I was not aware of?"
Dick gulped and nervously tugged at the collar of his suit under the two irate women's chastising glares before raising his hands with a weak, reassuring smile.
"N-no no, you're right," he said in a rather shaky voice as Starfire and the sorceress both raised expectant eyebrows at him. "I… just thought I'd go ahead and suit up in case something came up with the fallout from yesterday's attack. We all got caught off guard a little last night…"
Raven and Kori both stared hard at him for several more moments before finally relenting with explosive, fondly exasperated sighs.
"Dick, I checked the Crime Scanner before I started and it came back clean. If it hadn't, I wouldn't have bothered making breakfast and would have alerted everyone immediately. You know that. We've told you before, just because we had an eventful day yesterday doesn't mean we need to be sitting on pins and needles for the next week," the sorceress chided gently in a weary, deadpan voice as Dick's shoulders slumped slightly in embarrassment.
"Yes, and even if a crime that required our attention had been happening in the city somewhere, that does not mean that you must always be the one to handle it," Starfire added her own two cents before putting a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder and smiling softly. "You are not alone Dick. You have many powerful, capable friends to help fight your battles and ease your burdens so you may rest and enjoy some peace from time to time, if only you will let us. And we have told you that many times before as well."
Nightwing glanced to the side to see Garfield and Victor had both dropped their teasing smirks in favor of much more sincere smiles as they both nodded and gave him a supportive thumbs up, before finally sighing and giving everyone a grateful look.
"Thanks you guys, I really appreciate that," he said earnestly before sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "It's just… I was trained to always be on my guard, always expect the unexpected, and always remain vigilant and plan for any threat or situation imaginable. And old habits die hard, you know?"
Everyone nodded in understanding as Raven's lips thinned into a grim line.
Someone really needed to have a talk with Batman about his parenting methods.
Even now, after so many years and so much progress, Dick still hadn't managed to fully break out of the deceitful and overly paranoid conditioning his mentor had instilled in him.
The sorceress respected the Dark Knight immensely, but by the Great Mother of Azarath did that man have issues.
And that was really saying something coming from her.
She could only pray he didn't make the same mistakes with Tim and Barbara that he made with Dick.
Or with Jason.
"Hey man, don't beat yourself up too much over this," Cyborg chimed in supportively as Raven was abruptly snapped out of her musings. "You're not nearly as bad about this stuff as you used to be."
"Yeah, it's been ages since the last time we had to knock you out and strap you to a table in your underwear to get you to take a break. If that's not progress, I don't know what is," Beast Boy added cheekily, lending his support in his own way as the other Titans either chuckled or cracked small grins at the memory.
"Relax," the sorceress said simply in a soothing voice as she gave Nightwing a kind look while all the remaining tension finally drained out of him at her words. "The City will survive without us for an hour or two. We can share a meal together first before we head out again."
"AMEN sister!" Victor agreed wholeheartedly in his usually boisterous manner as he held out his finished plate for seconds, which Raven silently obliged with an idle flick of the wrist without even looking up from her own meal. "Nothing gets a team ready for a play better than some good food!"
"Oh yes! And Raven has always made the best food!" Starfire concurred cheerfully as she happily munched on her burnt pancakes, completely oblivious to the way her three male teammates all coughed and fidgeted awkwardly in their seats as the sorceress stared at them with a face as flat as a board.
"She certainly makes a mean tofu waffle, that's for sure!" Garfield spoke up in a valiant attempt to break the awkwardness as he shot her a nervously hopeful smile, sighing in relief as Raven inclined her head in acceptance of the peace offering before cheerfully holding out one of said waffles to the others. "Speaking of, would anyone like to try one? They're really goooooddddd…"
"Man, how many times do we have to tell you!?! Nobody wants to eat that nasty ass fake meat!" Victor snapped with a glare as all the other Titans groaned at yet another attempt by the changeling to turn them all into vegetarians.
"It's not nasty and it's not 'fake meat'! It's a delicious and perfectly serviceable meat substitute that keeps people from having to eat innocent animals! The same innocent animals that I turn into!" Garfield countered hotly as he glared right back, and Dick and Kori both winced and braced themselves when Cyborg furiously opened his mouth to begin another round of this very old argument between the two…
"AHEM."
…only to immediately slam it shut with a full body wince as he and Beast Boy both turned to see the thoroughly unamused sorceress glaring at them coldly.
"Victor, what are the rules when I cook for you all?" she demanded in a stern voice that had gotten a lot of practice with Melvin's team as a thoroughly chastised Victor looked down shamefaced.
"No arguing at the table," he muttered in a quiet voice, looking for all the world like a big metal kid as he fidgeted with his fingers while Raven gave a sharp nod.
"That's right," she said in that same strict tone before turning her attention to a stone-faced Garfield. "And Garfield, we have had this conversation with you before. We all respect that you don't eat meat. Please respect that we don't eat 'meat substitutes'."
Garfield huffed petulantly.
"Yes, Mom," he grumbled with a mocking glower as he returned to his waffles. "Honestly Raven, ever since you took Melvin and her little brothers under your wing you've become an even bigger Mother Hen than Dick."
"Hey!"
But the sorceress just shrugged as she returned to her own breakfast.
"If you and Victor don't want me to mother you, then stop acting like a couple of children," she replied simply as Dick and Starfire both snorted uncontrollably while Beast Boy glared heatedly at them.
"Laugh it up you two lovebirds," he growled in annoyance before spearing his waffle with more force than was probably necessary. "You guys are all a bunch of savages, you know that? Especially you Raven. I thought Azarath was full of monks that were all about peace and love and harmony and respect for all living creatures and all that jazz?"
Raven inhaled deeply.
"Gonna let that one slide," she muttered under her breath after a long exhale before changing the subject. "So, do any of you have any big plans this week? I was going to go visit Otto in a few days to make sure he would be alright after the stunt the Hive Five pulled yesterday."
"Oh yes please! Do make sure to send him our best wishes and let him know we hold him no ill will for what Plasmus did!" Kori chimed in with an approving look at the sorceress, who nodded in agreement.
"I already told him that several times yesterday, but I'll make sure to tell him again regardless," she replied with a wry smile as the other Titans all let out slightly sad laughs. "What about you Victor?"
Cyborg sighed at the question, and Raven's smile immediately vacated her face to be replaced by a concerned frown at the crushing Disappointment she suddenly felt from her friend.
"Well, I was gonna try and coach that Little League game coming up here soon, but now I'm not sure I'll be able to, what with the mess Plasmus and those damn jackals made yesterday," Victor admitted sardonically, trying very hard to keep the Bitterness out of his voice as the other Titans all winced in sympathy.
They all knew how much the mechanical man enjoyed his part time gig coaching Little League sports around the city and how it helped remind him of happier times when he'd been a star athlete with a bright future ahead of him before his fateful accident.
Just as they also knew how much Jump's children loved having one of their city's beloved Heroes as their coach.
"You still might be able to Victor," the sorceress said as she immediately moved to reassure her distraught friend. "Like we told Dick, what happened yesterday isn't the end of the world. If they're smart, the remaining Villains and criminals will be keeping their heads down for a while after so many got caught during the Hive Five's little stunt."
"And I'm sure we can rework the patrol schedules so you won't miss it if need be," Dick added with an encouraging smile of his own as Starfire and Garfield both nodded eagerly in agreement.
Victor smiled warmly at that as the Disappointment he was feeling was replaced with Hope and Gratitude at the show of support.
"Thanks you guys, I really appreciate that. And I'm sure the kids will too," he said gratefully as the changeling gave him a thumbs up and a friendly pat on the back.
"That's what friends are for dude!" Garfield replied cheerfully before giving his best friend a wide grin. "You just make sure you and the Tiny Titans kick the other team's butts for us, ok?"
Victor let out a loud, boisterous, belly laugh at that.
"Oh don't you worry BB! The Cougars ain't gonna know what hit em!" he declared with utmost confidence as he and the changeling exchanged an enthusiastic high-five while the other Titans all looked on in approval, before the conversations all moved onto more mundane, pleasant topics as Raven listened quietly and basked in her friend's company with a contented smile on her face.
She wouldn't trade this for all the magic in the multiverse.
"Hey, can someone turn the TV on? I want to see the news."
"Sure thing Dick."
The sorceress was snapped from her musings as Cyborg happily obliged Nightwing's request, and glanced up from her plate to see the Titan's massive plasma screen TV flicker to life to show a news anchor currently going through the morning news.
Most of it was reporting on the weather and yesterday's breakout and the effects thereof, listing casualty and damage figures and showing clips of their battles with Plasmus, the Hive Five, and hordes of more common criminals interposed with interviews and statements by the police, prison guards, and ordinary citizens and opinion pieces by a bunch of talking heads both commending and condemning them.
Raven didn't pay it much mind, all things considered.
Most of it was about things she either already knew or a bunch of pointless jabbering she could not have cared less about.
Nevertheless, the sorceress still made sure to keep one ear tuned on the television just in case something important or interesting did come up.
One could never be too careful when they were a superhero, after all.
And as luck would have it, Raven's well-honed instincts were right on the money.
"And moving on to the National News, our top story: the city of Dayton, Ohio suffered tremendous damage late last night during an attack by an unknown metahuman and a large group of armed terrorists that have not been identified at this time."
The sorceress immediately perked up at that, as did her friends, and as one all the Titans turned away from their breakfast to give the television their complete, undivided attention.
It was not a pretty sight.
The images on the screen displayed a scene of complete and utter pandemonium, lovingly displayed in ultra-high definition from a bird's eye view by a helicopter circling the beleaguered city.
Entire buildings had collapsed or looked like they had been smashed clean through by a runaway freight train.
The streets were an utter mess of potholes and shattered concrete clogged with all manner of debris ranging from totaled and overturned cars and trucks, snapped street signs, and chunks of nearby buildings that had been broken off.
Destroyed vehicles of all kinds littered the city in all sorts of odd places, including on the rooftops and in some cases even sticking haphazardly out of buildings.
The destruction continued for blocks, carving a deep scar through the city, until finally ending at the outskirts where the urban landscape gave way to dense forests, where several trees had been smashed aside like toothpicks.
"Holy shit…" Beast Boy said in a shocked voice as he looked at the carnage with a disturbed expression. "A single metahuman did all that?"
"Hush, Garfield," Raven shushed him sharply, even if she couldn't blame him for being so stunned.
Even Cinderblock and Plasmus on their worst days rarely caused such destruction.
"At the moment, details on this new metahuman and the terrorist group that attacked the city are still scarce," the grim-faced anchor continued as the feed abruptly switched back to him. "However, scattered eyewitness reports claim that the metahuman was a hulking, malformed, red-skinned creature that was incredibly violent and indiscriminately attacked anything in its vicinity as it tore its way through the city until it reached the surrounding forests and subsequently disappeared. Furthermore, it has been reported that this 'Hulk' and the unidentified terrorist group were apparently at odds with one another, as they seemed to be relentlessly chasing the creature as it rampaged through the city before it eventually killed all its pursuers and escaped. Authorities thus far have refused to comment…"
The sorceress's eyes narrowed suspiciously as the man continued to talk about how the authorities had no comment or any new information at this time other than that this "Hulk" was still at large and extremely dangerous and not to approach him under any circumstances.
That was it?
All that destruction and carnage and that was all they had to say about this new metahuman and the terrorists who had apparently been chasing him?
No names, no history, no speculation as to their identities or motivations, no descriptions of this "Hulk's" powers, not even a shaky phone vid or a blasted photo?
Just a basic codename and physical description and an equally basic "don't approach, call us immediately if you see him" warning?
No.
Raven didn't buy it.
She didn't buy it for a second.
In this day and age where cameras were literally everywhere and the world was filled with suicidal morons who would rather stand around and record highly dangerous metahuman fights as close as possible on their phones so they could post it on the internet later than immediately get to safety, someone, somewhere, had to have gotten a picture or a video of this thing, even if it's attack had happened late at night.
There was no way it could have avoided that while causing such a large ruckus unless its powers somehow prevented it, and people definitely would have noticed and reported it if that had been the case.
No, something else was going on here.
Something dirty.
There was a big, smelly rat scurrying around somewhere and the sorceress didn't like it one bit.
And neither did Dick, judging by the dark expression he was wearing as he and Raven shared a highly skeptical look.
"Damn," Victor muttered with a troubled expression as he continued to watch the news report on the Dayton attack, bare bones though it was. "Whoever this 'Hulk' guy is, I sure hope he doesn't come our way."
"Agreed," Starfire concurred wholeheartedly, the Concern she was feeling lighting up the sorceress's empathetic senses like a Christmas tree.
"Ditto," Garfield chimed in, emanating more than a little Fear himself.
Dick grimaced before standing up to get everyone's attention.
"If he does, we'll be ready for him," he declared without an ounce of hesitation before shooting them all a devil-may-care grin that earned him several small smiles in return at the absolute Confidence he radiated, particularly from Raven and the tamaranean. "Just like everything else that's ever come our way. But honestly, I doubt it'll come to that."
"Dick's right," the sorceress agreed wholeheartedly as she gave everyone a reassuring look and subtly sent out pulses of Peace and Confidence with her empathic powers to calm their Anxiety. "Ohio is all the way on the other side of the country. In all likelihood, this 'Hulk' won't come anywhere near Jump, and will be dealt with by someone else long before we have to step in. We should keep an eye on this, but no more than that. We already have enough responsibilities to deal with here, so worrying about this on top of that is pointless and counterproductive."
Her three friends all glanced at each other for a moment before giving her firm nods.
"Raven's right you guys. Somebody else will probably handle this, so there's no use in worrying about it," Cyborg said cheerfully before once again eagerly digging into his food, all his troubles and worries instantly forgotten as Beast Boy nodded in agreement.
"I'm not surprised. She almost always is," Garfield concurred in a matter-of-fact tone as he went back to his waffles while the normally stoic woman immediately blushed scarlet and pulled up her hood in embarrassment at the praise while everyone else looked on, amused.
Beast Boy was quite right, after all.
While Raven might not be the leader of the team, there was no denying she was one of the wisest, most insightful, and most level-headed of them all.
So when the sorceress spoke, the other Titans listened.
"Stop trying to butter me up so I'll play Stank Ball with you and Victor again, Garfield," she growled grumpily as her idiot friend just laughed. "I've told you before, that was a one time thing that will not be repeated. Ever."
"Whatever you say, Rae Rae," Garfield replied in a sing-song voice as the other Titans all either laughed or gasped at his daring while Raven's eyes narrowed into slits.
"Garfield…" she snarled in warning as the insufferable little brat in front of her somehow avoided going up in flames from the red-hot daggers she was glaring at him and continued to give her that damnably cheeky grin.
"Threaten me all you want Raven. You know you still love me," Beast Boy fearlessly teased one last time before finally returning his full attention to his plate as the seething sorceress furiously opened her mouth to let him know just how much she "loved" him…
…only to immediately deflate like a balloon with a tired, resigned sigh as all the Anger, Frustration, and Annoyance bled out of her at the brotherly Love and sincere, honest Desire to make her laugh, to make her Happy, she could feel radiating from Garfield, and a small, warm smile slowly spread across Raven's features.
Yes… I do.